Boycott Earls Restaurants!

Sheila Gunn Reid reports that after the public's pushback, Earls Restaurants will abandon their plan to use imported beef!

Earls restaurant chain has decided to abandon Albertan farmers and stop using Canadian beef in its restaurant chains.

The reason? According to Earls, Canadian farmers do not produce beef humanely enough for their standards! What an insult -- what a lie.

Earls says Canadian beef is not certified humane.

So Earls Restaurants, a chain that includes Joey’s*,Cactus Club, and Local are going out of country to meet their beef demands. Earls has found a supplier called Creekstone Farms that meets their beef needs in Arkansas City, Kansas.

The problem with this is that Earls was founded in Alberta. The reason Earls is the success it is now is because of loyal Albertan customers and the great Canadian beef that made it famous. But now Earls has turned its back on the province and the people that made it great.

Worse yet, Earls is using misinformation and scaremongering to do it. They are claiming that in order for beef to be considered "humane" farmers need to pay a special fee for a certification that, amongst other requirements, says farmers should never give their animals antibiotics, even if they're sick.

It's already illegal for a farmer to sell his animal until whatever medication the livestock has been given has cleared the animals system, so Canadians never eat medicated beef, ever.

As for the humanely certified designation Earls wants Alberta farmers to have? Well, it's a racket.

Farmers who want to be "humane certified" have to pay an American company called Humane Farm Animal Care in Herndon, Virginia. There is a fee for farm inspections of $600 per visit, there is a fee to have a have a supervisor at the processing and slaughter facility every time farmers take their livestock to slaughter of $700 per day. And then there is a per-head fee based on the size of the farm and the type of animal.

It’s a gimmick. It’s feel good nonsense for people who feel guilty about their comfortable urban lives. And it’s maligning Canadian ranchers to do it.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has no designation for "humanely certified." In Canada, farmers may already label and market their produce as natural, naturally raised, grass fed, and raised without hormones, and even antibiotic free. There are farmers out there who farm this way to meet a consumer demand already. They just chose not to pay a per-head of livestock tithe to American social justice warriors to give them a sticker that will make city people feel good about eating their hamburgers.

It's crazy. It’s extortion. It’s treating Canadian farmers like they are guilty of mistreating their animals, until they pay the fine to prove themselves innocent.

Time are tough in Alberta. Farmers can't afford to pay this and even if they can, they shouldn't have to.

Don't get me wrong, Earls has every right to choose to source its products in whatever manner they see fit. They are a private company, that's their business. And as private citizens, we have every right to source our dinners somewhere other than Earls.

And thats exactly what I'm calling on Canadians to do.

I want us to stand with Canadian ranchers. Join me in boycotting Earls and their sister restaurants until they reverse this horrendous decision.

There are plenty of other places that make a great Alberta or Canadian grown steak, and they need your business.

If you want to join our boycott, then please sign the petition below!

Help support Canadian farmers, boycott Earls restaurants!

*Joey's called us and explained that they are still proudly serving Canadian beef.

Sign the petition!

Earls restaurants must abandon their cynical U.S. marketing ploy based on pseudoscience and myths, and buy ethical, delicious Canadian beef once again.